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Saturday, 20 October 2007

Graphics Gallery - Influenza A Virus Replication

Process by which a virus enters a host cell and infects it by reproducing its own genetic material and assembling into virus particles.

The influenza virus is a class of viruses containing RNA as its hereditary material. It replicates by entering a host cell and using this cell's resources to produce hundreds of copies of the viral RNA.

The virus attaches to the outside of the host cell and its RNA enters into the cell. The viral genes are transcribed and translated by the cell's enzymes and ribosomes. In this way, the virus takes over the cell's productivity. Now, instead of producing only new cellular material, the cell produces hundreds of new virus particles. The new virus particles are eventually released from the cell and drift off, and some may land on a host cell of their own to pirate.